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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

All the packages I've installed have worked with the exception of Transcode. I had to install Transcode from tarball.

This is my Desktop OS (for now) and I like it, not buggy.

I use Synaptic Package Mgr. as my primary installation. Althoug, I originally updated the system w/YUM.

It allows for multiple O.S. to boot from GRUB. Although, I couldn't get it to boot into the other Linux distro on my machine. Probably my fault. It did not detect the other Linux sytem though. It did detect Windows w/out problem and it boots to Windows XP just fine.

The only Distro to detect two other operating systems for me and both of them worked (3 counting OS being installed) was Debian Sarge.

The installation of CentOS is simple and fairly quick. The first screen gives you the choice to test the CD media or skip the test. I tested all was good. I continue with the installation. The anaconda is a graphical installer and IMHO the best installer out there. It quickly takes you through the choices of language and keyboard. then comes the choice ti install centos or upgrade an existing installation. i pick install and off we go.
the installation gives you choices Personal Desktop, Workstation, Server and Custom. i install the Workstation and choose an automatic partition that removes all linux partitions but leaves my Windows partition alone.
DHCP and Firewall configuration come next. Because i am behind a firewall already i choose no firewall. Choose additional languages you want if any, then time zone.
the install process takes about ½ hour on my box. after which you set up screen configuration and user account.
the first thing i did after logging on to the system was get the package signing key for CentOS 4
opening a terminal and switching to root i ran the command #rpm --import http://mirror.centos.org/centos/RPM-GPG-KEY-CentOS-4

there are two ways to update the system
as root type #yum update
or use the graphical utility Applications > System Tools > Red Hat Network
the initial update went without a hitch albeit a bit long which is to be expected.

The centos IRC #centos is a knowledgeable, helpful and friendly group of people

I downloaded CentOS 4.0 when it first came out in early March of this year for x86.

The installation was very smooth and uneventful. I like the Anaconda installer because it doesn't list every single possible library you can and cannot install like YaST and Mandriva's installer. Instead, it just lists the names of programs (OpenOffice.org, XMMS, etc.) and then installs the corresponding libraries. It is also very easy to use, much easier than the Windows installer.

Upon booting, I discovered that despite my xorg.conf file listing 1024X768 as the default resolution, the screen seemed to be running 800X600. A quick scan through the file indicated that Anaconda had not properly detected the horizontal and verticle sync settings for my LCD monitor. I grabbed my monitor manual out of the drawer, located the information, and inputted it into the file and restarted X. The screen from then on ran fine at 1024X768.

Also, the Nvidia graphics driver was not installed. I do not, however, fault CentOS for this since this was due to legal issues. I did not deduct points off of my rating for this. I then installed gcc and the nvidia drivers and it was uneventful.

After that, I ran yum update, which upgraded the distribution with the latest security updates. (Since then, I have upgraded through yum to CentOS 4.1, which is essentially a service pack for CentOS). I then added Dag Wieer's repository for RPMs to install things like extra codecs and transcode. This all went uneventful and worked.

Then, I attempted to use my tv tuner card with tvtime to watch the Simpsons. This resulted in a blue screen inside of tvtime, so I checked if the bttv kernel module was loaded. It was not, so I tried to load it and it was not present. I checked the CentOS website and they said Red Hat does not include these drivers, but that CentOS had an unsupported kernel in the CentOS Plus repository that included a lot of these modules. I edited my repos file to exclude kernel updates from base and updates, and added the CentOS Plus repo. I then installed the unsupported kernel, rebooted, and everything worked.

I have found that on many distros, certain things will just not compile. This is not the case on CentOS. Right now, I am running XFCE 4.2.2 (compiled from source) and Beep Media Player with 3 or 4 extra plugins. I have also compiled other things like vobcopy and dvdstyler....and everything just works. It even added most of the things I compiled to the Gnome and XFCE menus, something that did not work with Ubuntu.

Overall, I recommend this distro (with the unsupported kernel and Dag Wieers' add-on repository for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4) for general desktop use. One major reason for this is the fact that with many other distros, you get a very short support cycle. For power users, this is a non-issue, since they want the latest and greatest. But when installing this on family members computers, it is nice to know that I can leave it for 7 years without upgrading it and still receive security updates for it.

I have very limited server experience with CentOS, other than a small Samba and NFS server. I find setup is a little more difficult than in other distros, but that it is much more stable.

I can't fault this distro. RedHat have done a nice thing (which they are obliged to as per GPL) by releasing the source code. COntrast that to Novell with their SLES.

Centos did a great job by packaging it. The community is good too. If there is one thing i should fault, it is that Centos spash logos are ugly. But this is a minor niggle when you understand that you get an enterprise OS.

Dag Weirs repositories make it a great desktop OS too, which can conpete with debian etc,

After experimenting with several different distro's, I have settled on CentOS v4.2 has my prefered OS for my home and second work system. The install runs very cleanly for me and also installed without problems on my Compaq presario 2145US laptop system. While I am also a Slackware fan, I like working with a RH compatible system with good security update support for several years down the road.

I stongly recommend adding Dag's repository to your Yum and Up2date configurations. The addtional programs and tools on Dag's repo will add useful features such as MP3 and multimedia support, easy access to jave, flash, and other programs that really round out the desktop.

I personally installed CentOS without the included OpenOffice so I could install the new version 2 release. This installed without problems from the OOv2 rpm's.

I'm very happy with the hardware detection, stability, and responsiveness with old and new hardware. As a plus, you can easily find 3rd party books on RedHat Enterprise 4 to learn more about the system. If you are tired of chasing the cutting edge and just want a system that works, CentOS is a good choice.

quite surprised how well it works from scratch, but hey even i cant remember how many linux installs i have done..and i cant remember how many i have installed for myself, but this one went well and i dont mind the redhat installer, anaconda..bit peeved my graphics card was not supported from scratch but thats about it..works great and will find out how good it is in time...
so far it does everything i ask of it and dont lockup or play silly games with me..

Since RH went commercial, I switched to SuSe. A great distro, but I could not get my VMware running on it.
Maybe it's my fault, but I do not have this kind of time to sort all things out.
Then I discovered CentOS and since 4.0 and now running 4.3 I decided not to try anything else.
It installs neatly from the DVD and recognizes almost any hardware on my PC's.
It runs all my applications like VMWare and lets me use my knowledge from RH.
Why search any further?!!!

CentOS is the perfect alternative for people who can't afford or otherwise are opposed to paying for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It's as perfect a clone of RHEL Advanced Server 4 Update 3 as can legally be distributed. Overall I found it just as easy to install, use, and maintain as RHEL4.